I believe this message is for you who is listening to me, maybe you are in the middle of a storm, a problem that seems greater than your strength, I believe that God will speak to you!
1 “Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah”
Psalms 61:1-4 NKJV
The Word “Selah” means: slow down, pause. Then think about what you are reading, reflect on it.
On verse 2 David says: “When my heart is overwhelmed”. Not if but when! All of us face storms that come into our soul.
I know some have greater, more developed spiritual resources and they can withstand greater hits and can get through difficult circumstances with more ease than others. But the truth is, every one of us will face circumstances that are bigger than we are. Every one of us will face circumstances that we cannot handle with our own strength and our own energy, things that are far too difficult, far too big for us to deal with.
Let’s look at what Paul the apostle said:
“We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.”
2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NLT
Paul himself said: “Look, we didn’t know what to do. We were at the end of our hope and beyond”
Thank God, he learned a marvellous lesson, one that God wants us all to learn: That Our trust should be in Him alone, when we feel crushed or overwhelmed, and when we don’t have the resources to deal with things.
Here in Psalms 61, we find three illustrations which God uses to speak of His help and His protection.
First, there is a shelter. Second, a strong tower, and third, a tabernacle.
A Shelter, a strong tower, and a tabernacle. All emblems of God’s help in our distress and His means to protect us and sustain us.
The shelter shields us from: rain, flood, accidents and the calamities of life. These all come to all because we’re living in a fallen world.
Nothing in this world works like God originally intended. One day He’s going to make new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells, and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will rule, and everything will be perfect, and everything will be made right.
But in the meantime, we are living in a fallen world. Some calamities and unfair things will happen. Maybe you have experienced the loss of a loved one, and you feel overwhelmed, and you don’t know how to cope with it.
It was a few months ago when we lost a very dear sister in Church, few years ago my dear brother lost his young daughter. These were unexpected losses, very overwhelming. Maybe you lost some of your dear ones or close friends or relatives too. Things happen.
We can suffer assaults too, which is what the strong towers can keep us from.
He said: God, You’re a strong tower in the face of my enemies. We do have an enemy. Do you realise we are in a spiritual conflict?
“Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:11-12 NLT
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
I Peter 5:8 NKJV
I’m not one to blame everything on the devil. But the fact of the matter is: we do have an adversary that is real and he is working on this planet earth. Some of your troubles are the direct result of his activity.
He hates you, he is against the church, he is against God’s people. The spiritual realm is real.
If you read the scriptures, we find Satan was behind illnesses in certain cases.
We find him behind tragedies. We find him behind persecution. We find him behind oppression. And he has not changed!
Our Lord Jesus said: “The enemy comes to steal, to kill and to destroy”
The third one about the tabernacle is the crossroads (you wonder which way to go). When you are faced with a intersection you may not know which way to go. You’re daunted, perhaps even overwhelmed when considering which choice to make. This relates to the reference of His tabernacle.
“I will abide in Your tabernacle.” Psalms 61:4
In the scripture the tabernacle it’s called “the tabernacle of Meeting” because it’s the place you go to meet with God. It’s the place you go to hear from God, to receive guidance, and strength and comfort from Him. It was the place where God’s presence was manifested under the Old Testament.
Think about a person who’s just found out that their spouse has been cheating on them. They are at a crossroads. Their heart is broken. What I’m going to do? If we get divorced what happens to the kids, what’s going to happen, what about my future. How am I going to make a living? Should I forgive them?
That’s a crossroads and a terrible place to be! I have helped many families in the church and helped many couples over the years that were at a great crossroads in their lives.
Some crossroads were about health matters, family problems or they just don’t know what to do next .
What to do? Those are not easy situations to be in! Sometimes standing at a crossroads in life can be absolutely overwhelming.
But thank God we have a tabernacle that we can meet with God in.
The good news is: God has a cure for everyone. He can shelter us during our times of calamity.
He is a strong tower when faced with the enemy. And thank God He has a tabernacle where we can meet Him and receive guidance, and comfort, and strength in our times of need.
In fact, you don’t have to go far to find His tabernacle. If you’re born again, you are it!
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
I Corinthians 3:16 NKJV
Now let’s back up again to psalm 61 verse 1 because there are some illustrations of the shelter, the strong tower and the tabernacle.
“Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
Psalms 61:1-2 NKJV
When i feel overwhelmed, isolated, broken, alone and forsaken I will cry out and I will pray.
When my heart is overwhelmed it leads me to the strong rock that is higher than I.
We need to go to a Higher Place, a place where I can see further. Lead me to a rock that’s higher than I am.
I need a new perspective. Month ago Fabiana and me went to a beautiful place called : “Stairway to Heaven” (in Fermanagh). It’s a mountain that gives you an amazing view of everything around because it takes you to a higher place.
David said : Lord lead me to the rock that is higher than I am, it’s a prayer for a new level of understanding, a new revelation regarding the purpose of God, or the true nature of a situation.
Let’s put together these verses with Matthew 16
13 “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:13-18 NKJV
It’s the rock of revelation that Jesus Christ is the son of God. He is not a good man that died !
He was, he is and forever shall be the living Son of God.
That is the rock that God builds His Church upon.
Any person that does not have that revelation, they are not part of this great body of Christ. They may even attend a church. That doesn’t make them a Christian. The same way that by you sitting in a garage it doesn’t make you a car. You being in a church doesn’t make you a saved person. Jesus said you need to be born again !
What happens when you have a revelation of Jesus? You connect with His church and become a faithful member of the body of Christ through a Cell group or in a meeting.
On this rock of revelation, I will build My Church.
When your heart is overwhelmed, you need to see something!
You need a fresh perspective, a new insight, a revelation of the Father!
Years ago I was overwhelmed, in a crises and I didn’t now what to do. So God took me to a higher rock and I saw somethings and I heard something from God that changed my life and for that reason I’m in Ireland and serving the Lord in this nation.
Let me tell you what I learned. First, God is not in a hurry. He is working things according to the counsel of His own will! (Ephesians 1:11-12)
God works from a long-term perspective, but you and I want results immediately.
When God spoke to me about my calling, I thought: Next week God will send me as missionary, but this actually took 20 years. I was in peace and God was working and preparing me.
God wants to bless and use you but first He has to work in your life, He is working in your heart and in your character until you learn some principles of humility and authority.
Also God wants to work on a much bigger scale on our acts of obedience, no matter how small they are, until they turn into a plan that will bless multitudes and generations.
God took me to a higher rock and it changed my life. I have not been the same from that day and I changed the way I view life and the ministry. It affected my faith and changed my behaviour.
How do you get to that rock? David cried out for it. He prayed!
He said: Lead me to the rock that is higher than I am.
He will lead you to a place where you can hear what you need to hear.
When you are feeling overwhelmed, God is a shelter, a tower and a tabernacle. But the fact is that you need to see something, to listen to something and you must then do something.
Let’s read Luke 6
““But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:”
Luke 6:46-47 NKJV
“He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.”
Luke 6:48 NKJV
“But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.””
Luke 6:49 NKJV
Protection against the forces that would destroy us are the direct results of our obedience.
When I’m overwhelmed, when the flood waters are coming into my soul I feel the need to see or to listen to something new I must take action.
When you walk in obedience, you are protected in Higher Places!
You need to try something new today, you need to do something.
Maybe what you are facing is because of disobedience, then you must repent and start obeying again.
God will lead you, God will lead me to the rock that is higher than we are.
If you are overwhelmed, God will help you because God does love you. We all feel overwhelmed at times. We all face mountains that are too high, seas that are too deep and too far to swim across.
But nothing ever takes God by surprise. He stores up provision for us ahead of time.
God has wisdom for you. He has mercy for you. He has a path for you to walk. What I’m saying is true. God sees you. He sees your heart. He sees your situation. He loves you and He wants to help you!
You have to cry out to God “lead me to the rock that is higher than I and give me a fresh perspective and He will do it for the glory of His son Jesus Christ